Confederate monument supporters gather at Beauregard statue

NEW ORLEANS – Supporters of preserving Confederate monuments in New Orleans have gathered around one of the statues to protest the city's plans to take it down.

The protesters held a news conference Tuesday at the statue of Confederate Gen. P.G.T Beauregard. The statue is one of four that city officials agreed to remove amid a national wave of opposition to Confederate symbols in 2015, when an avowed white supremacist gunned down nine black parishioners in a South Carolina church.

New Orleans officials haven't said when the massive Beauregard statue will come down. But parking restrictions were imposed in the area Tuesday evening. And police barricades were visible nearby.

Monument supporters called on Louisiana's Senate to approve a House-passed bill preventing local governments from removing monuments to military figures without approval by voters.